Donkey shot
Shickshinny, PA (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Jun 30, 2002
County: Luzerne
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Laura Edson
A woman who fatally shot a donkey between the eyes in order to protect her injured horse will face trial on animal cruelty charges.
Laura Edson said she shot the donkey with a .22-caliber rifle in July because it was headed toward her horse, Haley, who had a broken leg and couldn't run. Edson had wanted the charges thrown out.
Edson and a friend had kept horses on the Union Township farm of Art Hildebrandt. District Justice Johnny Hasay ruled that Edson knew for days that the donkey was a problem, and she could have moved the horses to another place.
"This court feels that the defendant made a conscious decision to keep her horse in this danger, and to this extent, deliberately choosing to deal with the impending danger, rather than removing the horse," Hasay wrote in an order.
Edson, of Nanticoke, had written to animal cruelty officers that the donkey broke free from his corral and ran toward her horse.
She said she shouted, grabbed her rifle and fired two shots in the air, but the donkey kept charging.
After that, she said, she shot the donkey in the side and then between the eyes, killing it.
Animal cruelty officers said Edson did not do enough to try to stop the donkey before killing it. They said Edson could have stepped in front of the animal, or hit it with the butt of the rifle.
Edson had used those methods to scare the donkey away in the past, the animal cruelty officers said.
Edson will face trial in Luzerne County court on two counts of animal cruelty; she has been free on bail. References« PA State Animal Cruelty Map
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